Abigail Carroll

It may seem like the idea of three meals a day – breakfast, lunch, and dinner – have been a part of American life since the beginning. In actuality, however, our current foodways took hundreds of years to solidify into what they are today.

In the times before the Industrial Revolution when most of the United States was agrarian, lunch was a much more important meal with heartier dishes that could sustain manual labor for the rest of the day. Meals mainly consisted of stews, called pottages, as these could be made easily in a large pot over a fire. Not until the late 1700s, taking cues from the British, did Americans begin to serve meat, vegetables, and grains separately on a single plate.

As the Industrial Revolution took hold and more people moved from working on farms to working in factories, eating lunch at home became more difficult. People had to eat smaller meals that they could easily carry to work and eat between shifts. At this point, dinner became more important because it was the only time of the day when the whole family could gather together for a meal.

Historically, snacking was problematic because it might spoil ones appetite for dinner and threaten the togetherness of the family. Beginning in the early 1900s, commercially and mass produced foods began to creep into American life. As these foods became more ubiquitous, the idea of snacking began to change, in no small part due to advertising.

In the conclusion, the author makes a succinct and insightful statement. “How we eat in the future will reflect who we are today, and how we eat today will determine in part who we will become tomorrow. Whether we know it or not, the state of the American meal is in our hands” (p. 219).… (más)

A great social history of the ultimate social event - eating.

This book traces the development of the American meal, from the messy subsistance meals of the colonists to the more genteel English-insprired meals, from French influences in the multiple-course meal, to a midday "dinner" that turned into the quick lunch of today.

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It's all here, from how utensils and plates developed, how snacking and TVs affected the picture, and more. As with most things "American," the influences came from all over, and got turned into a unique national style.

Whether your breakfast is tea and toast, or coffee, eggs, bacon and pancakes, Carroll explains how you got there.

See more of my reviews on Ralphsbooks. … (más)

While the author has a variety of topics she wants to consider in this examination of American food ways, the real point is to consider the social freight that particular meals have carried. To put it another way, Ms. Carroll started out writing a history of the American snack, but found that if she really wanted to write about the snack she'd have to write about dinner. So in the war between the snack and dinner, while the snack, with its emphasis on convenience and cheapness seems to be carrying the day, Carroll winds up with the reminder that none of our conventions about appropriate eating are set in stone and that there is a viable median state between the poles of rigidly following a fixed set of meal times and giving into to ad hoc convenience.… (más)